1. General Field of Invention
This invention relates to supports and holders for documents such as books, magazines, pamphlets, or other graphic type material.
2. Prior Art
The need for document holders or supports has been known for a long time, and the prior art describes many different methods for satisfying these needs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,414 issued Sept. 26, 1978 to Vivian Robertson presents a rigid sheet having a ledge secured thereto along a marginal edge and outstanding therefrom. Another sheet is hingeably secured to the rigid sheet at an opposed marginal edge. A flexible slat is secured to an opposite edge of the hingeable sheet and is also secured to the ledge carrying sheet on a surface opposite to the location of the ledge. A pair of clothespin like pinching devices are attached to a pair of flexible cord-like members on the surface of the ledge carrying sheet to maintain pages of a book open. Thus when in use, the Robertson apparatus may be folded up and placed in the hand, or left opened in a stable condition upon a flat surface. The Robertson device therefore requires it either to be constantly held in the hand, or to be placed upon a flat surface such as a table. Either method can at times be terribly inconvenient for the user. While using the Robertson device in the hand enables the user to have easy and immediate eye-level sight of the document, it nonetheless makes the user far less productive. And although using the Robertson device on a table allows the use of both hands, it necessarily takes up needed working space which is often unacceptable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,416 issued June 5, 1984 to Michael S. Templeton presents a display device with a base for retaining a pair of material or article support rods having one end of each rod secured to the base. The pair of rods extend upwardly in a diverging relation and slidably support a spring biased clip on each rod for retaining materials for display. Thus when in use, the Templeton device requires a flat surface and once again takes up needed working space.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,170 issued Dec. 16, 1980 to Sten Planebo presents a support device for a writing board or the like. The device is maintained secured to a vertical surface such as a wall by a pair of arms opening downwardly for riding on rails. No mechanisms are provided in the Panebo apparatus for securing the displayed articles. Thus when in use, the Panebo device requires that the user supply mechanisms for maintaining the articles in a secure fashion upon the vertical board, thereby making the device inconvenient to use.
Review of the prior art shows that heretofore all devices suffer from a number of disadvantages:
(a) Their use often requires space be made available on a table or other flat surface. Such space taken up by the holder is often in conflict with other activities occurring on the table.
(b) Complicated or inconvenient mechanisms are required for the use of the device. Setting up the holder is often times a tedious and needlessly complicated process of fixing and securing various articles and members together.
(c) Special attention is often required toward fixing the document upon the surface of the holder in complicated or inconvenient ways--tapes, pins, clamps, straps, wires, etc.
(d) Many holders supply no mechanisms whatsoever for securing the pages of a document in an open fashion.
(e) Many holders offer no mechanisms for collapsing the device in a compact condition for storing while at the same time providing, when required, immediate access for use due to some amount of required assembly.